Page 149 of Golden Eagle

Gustav said something to the feral wolves, and both shrank back from him. He caught one by the chin, forced his head up, and locked gazes with him. A moment later, some of the tension bled out of the wolf, his arms relaxing, his posture uncoiling.

He moved to the other, and repeated the process. Afterward, both of the ferals stood, swaying slightly on their feet; they looked like they’d been sedated.

Nikita envisioned Sasha in that state, and shuddered. Even worse, he didn’t have to imagine it; he’d been drugged out of his mind at the Institute, and he’d seen that dazed, glassy-eyed look right up close.

On screen, Gustav turned and walked out of frame, the ferals creeping along behind him, Hannah bringing up the rear.

“This is what we’d already assumed,” Will said, “but at least now we have physical proof.”

“Which would be great if we were trying to get an arrest warrant,” Trina said, folding her arms and making a considering face. “I guess we could find him and confront him with this, but that wouldn’t change the outcome, would it?”

“No,” Nikita said. He curled his hands into fists just for the satisfaction of hearing and feeling his knuckles crack. It was a rare moment of appreciating all that came with being a vampire, physical strength chief among it. “I’m still going to kill him.”

“Now, hang on,” Will said. He held up both hands in a placating gesture when Nikita turned to him. “Just a moment. Hear me out. Why don’t we try talking to him?”

Nikita himself was startled by the laugh that burst out of his throat. “Talk to him? Last night, he cornered us in an alley, and let his little mage friend try to barbecue us all. What’s there totalkabout?”

“Well.” Will leaned against the back of Much’s chair, got a swat for it, and retreated to the nearest bed, sitting down on its edge.

“That’s my bed,” Much said without turning away from the laptop.

“Then bloody sleep in it before the energy drinks give you a heart attack. Look at it this way,” he said to Nik. “We showed up at the Institute – they didn’t come to us. And when Gustav found us, Sasha was pinning his Familiar to the ground. You can’t exactly blame him for having a reaction to that. We don’t know yet how the mage is involved with him – if at all.

“What I want to know is why he’s chosen to work with the Institute. From what we’ve seen, signing on with them is at best a case of losing your autonomy, and at worst becoming a prisoner and science experiment. With the exception of Vlad, perhaps – and that’s the result of his absolute ruthlessness – you don’t control the Institute, they control you. So what is Gustav doing with these ferals? What’s the motivation behind it all?”

“I don’t care,” Nikita said.

But Trina said, “I do.”

He sent her a sharp look that she ignored.

“Is it blackmail?” she said. “Is he brainwashed? If we’re going to have to keep dealing with these jokers, then I at least want to understand the game they’re playing. Maybe Gustav is a cackling supervillain who needs taking out,” she said with a gesture toward Nikita. “But maybe they’re holding someone he cares about hostage. Maybe it’s more complicated than we know.”

“I thought,” Nikita said, as calmly as he was able, “that you didn’t want to have anything else to do with that place. And now you’re suggesting wehelphim?”

“No.” Her expression hinted at guilt. “No, I’m not saying that – but what if he needs help?”

“Then he can get it somewhere else. From someone who isn’t one of us.”

“I just…” She sighed.

“Don’t play the hero,” he said, voice half a growl. “There’s nothing heroic about our family, and never has been.”

“Hey,” she snapped, gaze flashing. “That’s bullshit and you know it. Don’t push your disenchantment off on me – especially after I’ve been inside your head, you damn martyr.”

They glared at each other for three whole seconds before he remembered they had an audience.

He looked away first.

Will lifted his brows, mildly curious.

“Fuck it,” Nikita said. “Go find him and talk to him if you want to so badly, but I don’t have anything to say to him.”

“Um,” Jamie said, just above a whisper. He shrank down when they all turned toward him. “Alexei’s actually talked to him. At his bar.”

Silence.

“He has a bar?” Trina asked.

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